Can't Imprint This
by andrella07
Summary: Post Retribution. Alice is forced to fight for Wesker and his poorly disguised plight for humanity, meanwhile wrestling with new responsibilities and old scars.
1. The White House

**Can't Imprint **_**This**_

**Andrella07**

**SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN RETRIBUTION, DO NOT READ. But definitely read when you do see it.**

**Having now seen Retribution I can say my desire to write is back with vengeance. Good news, yes? This story will be my focus. I don't know yet how long it will be, or exactly where it's going but I wanted to get it out there for those that have seen the new movie and NEED Alice and Claire like no tomorrow.**

**Please keep in mind that, as of today, I've only seen the movie once and am trying to be as accurate as possible with what took place in Retribution.**

**Reviews are so very, very welcome. You can't know what they mean to me. And as always I'd like to thank my beta cantholdon and my friend Scottie for their help.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with the Resident Evil franchise except for what I can buy and am not making profit off of this fanfiction.**

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Chapter 1: The Return

"Oh, and Alice, I brought a few of your friends here to see you."

The brunette snarled. This unsteady truce between she and Wesker was grating on her nerves already and she'd only been in his presence for a matter of minutes. Then again, he did just re-infect her with the T-virus. The spot where he'd forced the needle past her skin still stung.

Alice remembered saying those words to him; when Claire and Chris appeared behind the man, pistols drawn and aimed.

_Claire? She's here? _She was afraid to say the name out-loud and even more afraid of asking Wesker about her. What if the answer was no? What if Claire was dead, just like she had feared? Alice played back the dreadful day on the ship. Turbulent waters, twisting winds, and obsidian ospreys against a clouded sky: that was what she remembered.

_Several rockets were fired, impacting the_ Arcadia _below deck. Shots fired from rotary cannons either tore holes into the ship or ricocheted and sent pieces of metal into the air. Claire, armed only with her Beretta and standing next to Alice, took shrapnel to the face. The gash above her eyebrow bled quickly, red liquid running down the angle of her nose and dripping onto her shirt._

_"They've come for us," Claire exclaimed, not even aware of the line of blood. "All of us!"_

_For a moment, Alice considered telling Claire to take the boat they arrived on to get off the _Arcadia_ when she realized there were actually three ways off the freighter. Fleeing in the small boat as a coward, being taken into an Umbrella airship as a prisoner, or falling into water – dead but free. Alice knew there was only one option for Claire, only one option for all of them._

_Alice pulled out her dual pistols and readied for the fight of her life. _

_Soldiers repelled down on lines, shooting the unarmed with net guns. Only Alice, Chris, and Claire were armed until several of Umbrella's previous captives overpowered a soldier and took his weapons. They tried to even the odds but were largely unsuccessful. The water around the ship was turning just as red as the paint on the side of it. _

_Claire had picked up an assault rifle, keeping her ward, K-mart, behind her and out of danger as best she could. Alice wanted to protect the both of them but she had seen time and time again Umbrella's reluctance to let her escape alive. Recapturing survivors may have been part of the goal, but at the end of the day Alice was the true prize._

_To keep them safe, she ran. There were no words given, and no last look; there simply wasn't time. _

_The other side of the ship greeted Alice with an old friend. Jill, blonde and bugged, repelled down, firing all the way. Alice was in shock. Of all people she expected, the cop from Raccoon City was not one of them. She always wondered what had happened to her after they parted ways and when she asked Carlos about it he had no idea._

_The brunette shot back, her bullets missing by a mile as Jill rolled out of the way. Suddenly the air was thick with rotating metal blades. An osprey was coming right for her, the bullets fired, ripping their way toward her. Handguns empty, Alice un-holstered her double barreled shotguns and pulled the trigger. The nickel-plated coins shattered the windshield and splattered the brains of the pilot. The airship sank rapidly and Alice's only choice was to sprint in another direction._

_When steel hit steel and fire raged from the belly of the explosion, Alice was launched off the side of the ship, the thermal shockwave turning her in midair so that she landed on her back in the water. Hitting the waves knocked her under, and she sank into the deep blue. Light was replaced with rippling darkness._

"They're waiting for you in the bunker," Wesker added before nodding to his best agent. "Ada will take you."

The young Japanese woman acquiesced to his command with relative ease. There was a story there, one that Alice was certain was she didn't want to waste a breath on asking about. Ada Wong was uncertain territory in her book. Sure, she helped Alice to escape the Red Queen's control but no amount of good deeds could hide her and Wesker's true purpose. Wesker wanted to use the brunette, just like he had always desired before and Alice wasn't falling for the guise of saving mankind.

Ada offered to lead her away but Alice stopped her. "I'm not going anywhere without Becky."

"Very well," Ada answered, walking them back into the White House to where the girl was waiting with Jill.

Jill was still pretty shaken up and very solemn. Alice understood why with crystal clarity. Under the scarab, Jill was completely aware of everything she did though she had no control over it. The brunette had gone through the same thing while under the influence of Umbrella's satellite, but she had found a way to break free. Jill's own body had been her captor for who knew how long; the two women talked very little on the flight back. But if there was one thing Alice was sure of, was that Jill was her one true ally in this place. They were bonded together far more than most. Once a puppet of Umbrella – always a puppet, but these puppets had guns and the martial skill to back themselves up in any kind of fight.

Alice and Jill shared a nod in greeting, Becky was much more affectionate.

The little girl ran to the arms of her protector, signing, "This place is scary. I don't like it when the walls shake."

Alice's eyebrows knitted in empathy as she both signed and spoke aloud to comfort the child. "Stay by my side and there will be nothing to fear." A gleam in the girl's hair caught Alice's eye. It was the same color of hair as the clone of herself that she'd found dead in the suburbian nightmare. Becky was supposed to be the child of Alice and Carlos, the perfect mixture of their features and DNA, but she wasn't. 'Becky' was someone else's baby, some other woman's and some other man's offspring imprinted to play the role of her daughter.

It was cruel and it was sick.

But Alice's feelings for the girl were her own.

_"You're not mommy, are you?" Becky asked, her voice strained from the fact that she could not hear herself as the multitudes of Alice and Becky clones paraded down an assembly line, the licker from before roaring and readying to strike._

_The brunette's answer was milliseconds in coming and as natural as breathing. She pointed to herself, "I am, now," before pulling Becky into a shielding embrace._

Alice shuddered internally. How could someone so small mean so much to her? Then again, how could someone so stubborn and willful mean just as much? In fact, she needed to get back to 'stubborn and willful' because Claire was willful enough to find the older woman on her own and stubborn enough not to forgive Alice for delaying. That was… if she was here.

Ada took the two of them down stairs and through long hallways until the surface noise diminished into nothing and the shaking of the foundation lessened.

Sequestered in a room apart from the turmoil and madness of soldiers and civilians working on defending the house of the president were the people awaiting Alice's heroic return.

The brunette walked in, hand in hand with her ward to immediate sight of Chris and K-mart.

"Alice!" K-mart shouted, running to the woman and hugging her. Becky startled at the fast moving teen but held her ground. Over K-mart's shoulder, she saw a redheaded woman lying on a cot on the floor.

Hurt or resting, Alice didn't like seeing Claire so motionless. "I'm glad you're safe, K," Alice responded, trying to distract herself from the sight.

When the teenager broke off, Alice met Chris's broody stare. "How is she?"

The S.T.A.R.S. operative glanced backwards. "She has a concussion, but the medic said it was safe for her to sleep, so we've been getting her to rest as much as possible."

Alice took steps closer, seeing the bandage tucked underneath auburn hair as well as the stitches above her eyebrow where shrapnel had embedded itself.

"Alice?" Claire said, waking slow enough that the name was out of her mouth before her eyes were open.

"I'm here," she said, relief flooding through her like the water had when she fell from the _Arcadia._

A long second stretched out between them, and Alice was reminded of the pain she felt when running away from her. How many times would she have to leave Claire? How many times would she _come back?_

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**Expect more as soon as possible, but feel free to review to pass the time until then. :)**_  
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	2. The Bunker

Chapter 2: The Bunker

Claire lifted one of the hands resting on her stomach and reached for Alice. The brunette met her halfway and took Claire's hand in her own. Such warm contact was commonplace, Alice remembered. In Los Angeles it was only Alice's hand on the redhead's shoulders that kept her from attacking her own kin, and it was the hand on Alice's shoulder that kept her from continuing to shout Luther's name in the sewers.

Luther… died trying to help her escape. The man may have been a walking ego but his heart was in the right place. Why were all the men in her life disappearing except for the one person she wanted gone more than anything? Wesker.

There were more important things to be doing at the moment besides remembering the deceased. Alice would think more often of the dead only if Claire was among them. But she wasn't, she was right here – fingers encased in her own.

"I'm glad they got you out," Claire said, her usually chipper voice rough with drowsiness. Before Alice could give response, the younger woman started to rise, swinging her legs over the bed to sit up straight.

The brunette let Claire use her hand for support while watching for the slightest inclination that this was too much movement too fast.

Claire finally caught sight of the young girl at Alice's side and voiced the question the rest of the parties in the room were waiting to hear the answer of. "Who's this?"

Alice figured Becky to be too shy to answer herself, plus if she didn't read Claire's lips than she wouldn't have known the inquiry was about her. "This is Becky," she introduced, then turned to the child and signed while saying, "Becky, this is Claire, Chris, and K-mart." Alice then explained to the three of them that they would have to speak directly to her so she can read their lips and understand. With their agreement Alice turned back to Becky and signed silently, "_I trust all of the people in this room and so should you. They're good people. Safe._"

"_Is her name really K-mart? Like the store?_" Becky asked, pointing to the teen with a look of bewilderment.

Alice could not contain her amusement and laughed, meanwhile K-mart was in background asking what could possibly be so funny.

Alice signed and explained for everyone else. "She wanted to know if you were really named after a store."

Claire joined in on Alice's glee, laughing as she said, "I told you that would happen, K. It's your own fault."

K-mart rolled her eyes with a sigh; then got on one knee in front of Becky with a smirk. She spoke slowly, unnerved by the fact that Becky had to stare at her lips to understand her.

"You see, Becky. A few years ago, Claire," she said, pointing to redhead, "found me in a K-mart, and I thought I would take a new name for my new life with her."

The apocalypse was so fresh for Becky, just a few days ago she'd been a body on a line next to a hundred other identical bodies. But Alice had talked with her on the flight to the White House. It was hard to explain everything, but luckily her imprinted memories contained a night of sneaking in a zombie movie before her clone-mother found her in the living room and sent her to bed. Becky could grasp the plot of their novel world if not the details and comprehended that the last half a decade was different for everyone else. Becky guessed that she was lucky, although there must've been so much going on in her head about being 'created' and not 'born'. Alice foresaw many conversations about that in the future, but first there had to be a future to start with.

Becky answered the teen and in case she misspoke she signed so Alice could translate if it was necessary. "That makes sense. Can I know your real name?"

Now this, Alice wanted to know, in fact she could remember asking K almost the same exact thing on their first meeting. K-mart's real name was a mystery to everyone, even Claire.

K-mart rubbed her chin to convey consideration. "How about this? If you help to teach me to sign I will sign you my name, but you have to promise to keep it a secret."

Becky was instantly brighter. "Yes! I can teach you!"

"And you promise to keep my secret?"

The young girl's head rocked fiercely in concordance. Alice had been hoping for this. If K-mart could fill that big-sister role for Becky, maybe the child would feel more accepted and more confident. She knew K-mart wouldn't let her down.

"_Mommy?_" Becky looked to Alice and signed with an expression of concern. "_Will you help me teach K-mart to sign?_"

Alice smiled half-heartedly and nodded, for some reason she couldn't find the right words to say or sign. She was still trying to get used to the sign for 'mother', an open hand, fingers spread, with the thumb held to her chin. For a second she was grateful no-one else knew sign language. Being a mother was not something she wanted to explain right now.

The brunette recovered as fast as she could and said aloud, while signing, "Why don't you and K-mart get started over there." Alice pointed to a corner of the room, close enough that they were still in each other's presence but far enough that Alice could talk without having to sensor what she said for Becky's benefit. "I need to speak to Chris and Claire."

"Ok," Becky answered and followed her new friend away.

Alice watched them for a few moments. Becky was beginning with the alphabet, saying the letter before signing it and having K-mart repeat after her. They got 'A' down, K-mart's fingers moving clumsily the first few times, until they moved on to 'B' and Alice's attention diverted to the task at hand.

At closer inspection, Chris seemed pissed. Who could blame him? They were no doubt captured and held hostage here while the man responsible for Umbrella had tried to persuade him to their side, but what Alice didn't know was how they went from being attacked by the Red Queen's soldiers to 'free' inside of Wesker's takeover of the White House.

"What happened," Alice asked, "how did you guys get here?"

Claire deferred all responses to Chris, continuing to watch K-mart and Becky across the way.

The brutish man sighed. "Well, Alice. We were captured, but when all the ospreys full of survivors from the ship went west – ours went east. Somehow, Wesker managed to have a few loyal soldiers left whose job was specifically to find us and take us here. The soldiers found Wesker's body in the ocean; they looked for yours too… but couldn't find it. All we found was Luther on the coast. He's the only one of us that Wesker let leave to help you."

"I see. How has he treated you?"

Chris shrugged. "We have everything we could want considering the situation, and Claire's being seen by Wesker's personal doctor. It would seem he wants to use us to keep you here. Not like we could leave anyway, not with those _things _outside."

That was right; the capital was under siege by creatures of all kinds. The air was no longer the safest way to travel anymore. Winged parasites had been airborne on their entry and only some quick shooting had kept them free of the craft.

Alice frowned. "I don't want Wesker's doctor anywhere near Claire again. Find someone else. Anyone else. But you're right, he's using you to get to me. He wants my help. Apparently, I'm some kind of ultimate weapon," she recited with disdain.

At this point, Claire interrupted with concern. "What do you mean? How can you do anything that we can't? You're human again, remember?"

Blue eyes looked off, past Claire and past all kinds of reason. She wished Claire would just see the small needle mark on her neck but Alice was certain it was already healed by now. In fact, her broken ribs and bullet wound were close to mended as well.

"Not anymore," Alice said, somber and without heart. "Wesker re-infected me with the virus."

Claire was up in arms immediately – Alice's arms, to be specific, because she had stood so fast that the rush caused her to stumble. "You can't be serious!"

"Take it easy, Claire," the brunette soothed. "He did me a favor. Now I can get all of us out of here." No matter how much Alice didn't want to admit it, only in her mutated state could she be unstoppable, and Wesker knew it too. "Sit back down," Alice tried to order but the usual roughness of her voice was soft with pleading.

Claire moved back onto the makeshift bed and all eyes absently turned to the girls in the corner of the room.

"What do we do now?" the younger woman asked.

Already, Alice's mind was running rampant with ideas of what they could do but it hinged on the card's Wesker had yet to play. He had yet to say how he though Alice would fight for mankind's last stand.

"We wait," Alice answered.

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**I'm not going to explain how Alice's know sign language, because I have no idea! I'm hoping the novelizations clears up that little fact. Until then, so long as you guys are ok with it, I'm not going to give any history of Alice learning sign.**

**As for Wesker being in the White House and having Claire, Chris, and K-mart, I hope I clarified that to your liking seeing as how we weren't given that kind of information. **

**Quick! Someone bring me Paul's notes for the sixth movie so I can know what the heck I'm doing! Haha. Thanks for all the reviews, guys. You're really reviving my drive to write. I need to know though, when Wesker said Alice was the ultimate weapon against the undead, what do you guys think he meant? That she, fighting alone, is the answer? That she could lead an army of Alice clones to victory? That by remaking a cure from her blood they would be saved that way? Something else entirely? Please let me know. If I can gauge some public opinion, I'll better know where to go with this story and keep it EPIC. **

**One last thing, since Jill and Chris were partners in the games, would you like to see a little of that aspect or does it not matter that much? The movies are absolutely no help in that respect either.**


	3. The Storeroom

**Thank you for all your wonderful responses. You guys really helped! To answer a few questions I've received. No, Alice and Claire are not yet in a relationship and I won't be bringing Barry Burton into this. I'm trying to stick to exactly what happened it Retribution. In fact you could say that for every movie. Think of this story as a direct conclusion to the first five movies with nothing changed in any of them. **

**I should also tell you all that I got the novelization of the movie, so some things have been answered for me that way. (The novel is based on Paul WS Anderson's script and not the film so not everything is accurate in the book but it's close)  
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**Anyway, enjoy the chapter. More action will be coming soon.  
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Chapter 3: The Storeroom

By the end of the evening K-mart knew the entire alphabet and had signed her name to the child. Alice respectfully turned away at the revealing, knowing she was the only other party able to read it, but she did hear Becky comment on the beauty of her name.

Alice was about to excuse herself to make sure Jill was settling in alright, when there was a knock at the door to the small, isolated bunker. The brunette walked to the door and opened, not pleased with surprises but content enough with the visitor.

"Jill, I'm glad you're here," she said, noticing the blonde's change into more appropriate clothes.

In a second, Chris was staring Jill down, pistol drawn. This was not a development Alice had been expecting but the blonde woman handled it herself.

"Stand down, Chris. Nobody wants you transferred again for more bad behavior."

"You two-" Alice paused with confusion, "know each other?"

Chris let out a hoarse laugh, and put his gun down. "Bad behavior? Says the one repelling from an Umbrella osprey…"

Jill looked at the floor. "I wasn't myself."

"I see that," Chris responded. "I mean, you've gone blonde for Christ's sake."

Jill shook her head, smirk permanently fixed in place. "Got a thing for blondes, do you?"

"Only a thing for you," Chris quipped with an egotistical head-bob.

Suddenly, Claire broke into the conversation from her bed. "I think I'm going to be sick. _Please _stop."

The room erupted with laughter from everyone except K-mart and Becky. Chris pulled Jill into a tight hug as Claire tried to hold her breath. Necessary introductions and explanations were made in the following few minutes. Alice learned that Chris and Jill had once been partners when they both worked for S.T.A.R.S. but Chris had been sent to another force after some kind of incident. Even Claire knew Jill. While Chris was in Raccoon City, the redhead lived on the coast, and the two women would see each other from time to time when Claire visited her only brother. It wasn't a small world, it was the tiniest world possible – that two would meet again and have Alice to thank for it. Jill's assimilation into Umbrella wasn't brought up, the conversation probably too upsetting for such a happy reunion.

Alice never thought that she could fill a bunker in the White House with a handful of people who were strangers to her a few years ago and abruptly feel like she was home. Everyone seemed content; everyone but Claire. There must have been much on her mind, but tonight was not the night to divulge her with an open ear and friendly silence.

"_Mommy,_" Becky signed, plastering herself to Alice's side,_ "is it time for bed? I'm very tired."_

The brunette answered in sign and speak, "Yes, it's time for bed. You'll have to sleep in your clothes, ok? We're going to sleep in here with everyone, but first I need to get more beds."

Becky nodded, signing that she would stay with K-mart until Alice returned.

Alice, Jill, and Chris left the bunker to acquire more cots. Not surprisingly, there were soldiers in the hallway watching them, no doubt under orders from Wesker to spy. Ada ran into the trio and told them where they could find what they needed as well as the fact that Wesker expected Alice in the oval office first thing in the morning. The brunette was quick to inform the agent that she would seek out Wesker when she was ready to and not a second sooner.

Somehow, Alice ended up in a storage room alone while Chris and Jill carried the last cot downstairs. The brunette looked around the storeroom and found several boxes of clothes. She was sick of this Umbrella uniform designed specifically for her, and really didn't care if offered the best protection. She wanted old clothes that didn't fit; she wanted mismatched items, to wear hot plaid in summer and socks with holes. She wanted anything that didn't make her stick out so much.

She found it in a matter of minutes. A muted orange, longsleeve flannel shirt was buttoned up over a white wifebeater while her legs were covered in jeans showing the beginning of becoming threadbare. A pair of gold-colored work boots, close to her shoe size, was pulled on top of holy socks. This was what she needed a sense of normalcy again. Alice looked down at herself. She felt ridiculous and it was fantastic.

A little laugh escaped her lips before she leaned against an open wall and her legs crippled. She sank to the floor, a suddenly aching head resting in quivering hands. She tried to pacify the overwhelming feelings of doubt. Everything – absolutely everything was riding on her shoulders like never before and here she was forgoing practicality for something so stupid and frivolous as dressing like everyone else.

"Alice?"

The brunette glanced up, her eyes dilated past all inhibitions; ready to dole out the pain to whoever had intruded upon her solitude and witnessed her so vulnerable.

At the sight of Claire leaning against the doorframe, surrounded by wooden boards and shelves of nails and screws that were clanging with the shockwaves of explosions outside, Alice shook the irritated expression from her face and blinked until her eyes were back to normal.

"Are you alright?" Claire asked, head to the side, unyielding concern in her stare. Before she looked at the rest of the woman.

Alice licked her lips, assumed Claire was laughing on the inside at Alice's apparel, and then got back to her feet. "I'm fine." It was a complete and obvious lie. "What are you doing up here?" she asked, heart racing for no clear reason.

"I just came to check on you. See if you wanted to talk."

Alice's eyebrows furrowed as she made a quick decision. "I'd rather get back to Becky." The brunette adjusted her short hair, making sure none of it was in her face before grabbing the armored outfit from Umbrella.

Claire moved out of the doorway, leaving Alice her route of escape, but as the older woman passed her, she spoke. "She's a cute kid."

It was almost as if Claire was goading for more information by making such a noncommittal remark. It was unnerving, that Claire always had the perfect way of saying things to make Alice extremely paranoid. Besides the awkwardness of explaining how Becky came into the world, Alice didn't want people to know of their connection. Becky was a weakness to the utmost degree. If Wesker sought to use it, if anybody did... Becky would be in every crosshair of anyone who wanted access to the 'ultimate weapon'.

Ultimate weapon, project, mutation, clone, freak… why did all these words have to be tied to her? She was jealous of the dead housewife clone. Why couldn't she just be 'mother'?

Alice walked up the stairs at a slow enough pace that Claire would not get left behind. When the pair of them emerged on the bunker, Becky was still teaching K-mart to sign and Chris and Jill were huddle together, reminiscing about old times. But When Alice entered the space all were quietly watching her.

She was used to it – used to the way she off-put most people. When she entered a room she commanded awe and fear. But by the look on everyone's face, Alice realized they weren't scared of her. They were confused. Then she realized why: her civilian-esque clothes had thrown a wrench into everyone but Becky's preconceived notions of the woman.

"What?" Alice said, throwing the Umbrella uniform onto the floor next to what was to be her cot. Then she folded her arms and scowled.

Chris was the first to speak up. "I never realized how ugly you are until now."

In a second, and much to Alice's delight, Becky marched up to Chris with the cutest look of discontent and signed while saying, "It's not nice to call people ugly. She is always beautiful."

Jill muffled a laugh with one hand as Chris apologized as sincerely as he could. "I'm sorry, Becky. You're right."

Alice held out her hand for Becky to take. When she did, the two walked to their cots laid out so that they would sleep in close proximity.

The night wound down to hushed conversations and many yawns between words. K-mart and Claire were the first to fall asleep, Jill and Chris next. Alice stayed up as long as Becky did. It was no surprise that girl couldn't sleep.

Becky tugged on Alice's shirt to get her attention. The room was dark except for a small electric lantern in-between Alice and Becky's cots but it was enough light to watch Becky sign.

"_Why is Claire sad?_"

"_Does she look sad to you?_" Alice asked.

"_Very._"

The brunette sighed. Just because she hadn't noticed Claire's mood didn't mean that Becky was wrong. Alice avoided the question and instead asked Becky to rest.

"_It's time to sleep now. You're safe. I'm right here, little one. Close your eyes._"

The girl did as she was told and passed out in minutes, her hand permanently fixed in the 'I love you' position toward Alice. The older woman rolled over at the sight of it.


	4. The Oval Office

**I forgot to say something in the other chapter! I'm really doing my best to handle Becky's deafness properly, but having no real experience with sign language or anything like that I may get something wrong. Please don't fault me for it. I'm doing as much research as I can. However, feel free to correct me if I've done something offensive or could do something a better way. Thank you, readers.**

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Chapter 4: The Oval Office

In a second, Alice was awake. The night passed in an instant of darkness where dreams were forgotten and restfulness was not felt. Her early-to-rise attitude asserted itself hardcore. The brunette was up and redressing in her battle-armor in half a minute. She then combed the tangles out her hair with her fingers as Becky got into a more comfortable position beside her. Sometime in the night, Becky had crawled onto her cot and found an impossibly small space beside her.

Alice's eyes fell on the Umbrella emblem resting on her chest before she focused her reestablished mental powers on it. With very little force it disintegrated into nothing but painted pink dust leaving the leather beneath it unscathed. She was glad to be rid of it and glad to know that command of her powers was as strong as ever.

Alice sat back on the edge of her bed. She tucked an errant curl behind the girl's ear, gently waking her.

"_I have to see somebody,_" the woman signed."_If you need anything you can wake up Jill or Claire, ok?_"

Becky nodded before yawning and closing her eyes once more.

Alice left the bunker without a sound and asked a soldier outside their door to direct her to the armory. For the first time since she'd arrived, the White House was quiet. Sure, the fight was still raging outside of the wall, but the people inside were just as quiet and calm as the early morning hour. At the arsenal, Alice refilled her stock of ammunition for the couple of the TDI Vectors she'd come to appreciate.

She would've left her Umbrella battle suit behind, but intimidation was high on her list. Confronting Wesker empty-handed wasn't even on that list, but completely naked with nothing but her ego, she still would've considered that an advantage over him.

The soldier took her to the oval office on request, but that would be the last time Alice needed somebody to take her anywhere. She made a mental map of every important stop and saved it to memory.

Wesker was more than at home in the seat of the president. His tight black outfit highlighted his muscle and bravado. At the sight of his pleasure-filled grin Alice made a comment sure to wipe it off his face.

"Can't say I remember voting for you, but I have to commend you." Alice's blue eyes went to her raised hand, like inspecting her nails was far more important than giving Wesker any form of respect or common courtesy. "You've really turned this country into the spitting image you, and your morals – fucking ugly."

Wesker's grin slowly dropped into irritation. "Project Alice-"

At the title, Alice lost it. Her head snapped around and her eyes dilated. Just as swiftly as Wesker had attacked her yesterday, the brunette was by his side, right hand clenched violently around his throat, lifting him from his seat.

"Alice! Stop!" Wesker choked out, his own hands tearing at her protected forearm.

"Why should I?" she snarled into his ear.

"We have- a- common enemy," he recited from last night, quite breathless.

Alice shook her head and laughed. "I only see one enemy. You," she teased, increasing the pressure on his throat by tiny increments. She knew that even if she caused Wesker to pass out, he still might somehow live just as he had done when she'd blown his brains out and destroyed his osprey. Alice needed some other way to assure his complete annihilation. Her brain was going over scenarios when he spoke again through a shrinking windpipe.

"Humanity… needs… me."

Alice released him in an instant, not even sure if it was her own doing because it was so sudden. She tried to recover from the uncertainty with more ridicule tossed Wesker's way. Could she still be under Umbrella control? Why did she let go of him? She was going to kill him... Somehow…

"The only thing you have to offer humanity is an unclean death."

Wesker slouched on his desk; his thick forearms the only thing holding him up. "You're wrong." The once-chairman reached for the sunglasses that had fallen from his face when Alice dropped him and he replaced it over his crimson-colored eyes. "Maybe I let power and pride rule me before, but I understand that mankind will not survive if I maintain my selfishness. We need a new direction. We need _you_."

Wesker's speech was a complete 180. For once, Alice could see the man and not the mutation he had become. If this conversion was sincere, the brunette needed to give him a chance to reclaim his humanity or she would've truly known that hers was gone forever. She decided to give him time to prove his genuineness and his actions in the coming days would tell all, but there was something she still didn't understand.

"What happened to those cravings?" She asked. "Still feeding on the innocent to stay under control?"

"Your scalpel had all the DNA I required," he replied. "I think you remember the one."

Alice did indeed. It was the one Bennett had stabbed her with on the Arcadia. She had thrust it into his skull, hoping the blow would cause death and that her blood on the blade wouldn't matter. She was wrong.

"So what is this great plan of yours? Unleash me, guns blazing? Hope I take out a good chunk before I die?"

"You assume you can die," Wesker commented under his breath before truly answering. "No, what I have in mind is much more intricate than that… You see, there's a facility in New York-"

* * *

Alice had a lot to think about that morning. Give herself over to Wesker's command or perfect his plan with her own personal flare of genius. Or perhaps she would trash allying with Wesker altogether. Surely the lot of them could commandeer a helicopter, Claire could fly them out of the hot zone and they'd steer clear of being Wesker's last hope. Alice would have to forget her vendetta against him and against Umbrella if she wanted to keep everyone safe. Retribution was not worth dying for. But was running really the answer? If they ran this time, someone would surely chase them like had always happened in the past.

The brunette was walking back to the bunker where she hoped Becky would still be waiting for her, ready to talk it out with everyone, when she bumped into K-mart. Literally.

"Shit," Alice cursed, unaware that there had been a person in her direct path. She had been focused on her thoughts entirely too much. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, Alice. It's alright," the teen said cheerily. "I got bored back in the bunker and no one else was awake so I thought I'd walk around a little."

K-mart was wringing her hands, like a nervous person. Her dark eyes flitting between Alice and the smoke-stained wall to her right.

"What are you looking at, K?" Alice asked, aware that she already knew the answer by the teen's line of sight. She was staring at a photo of the last president in office and his family. The President was suited up and his blonde wife looking just as nicely dressed and sophisticated. Their child – a very young girl with short, light-colored hair – sat on her father's knee with a naïve smile. If she'd survived the apocalypse she would probably be closer to K-mart's age, now, but so few people were that lucky.

"That girl, there. I feel like…" K-mart's voice dropped an octave, like she was revealing a long kept secret. "I saw her somewhere."

Alice shrugged. "Well, her portrait is probably all over the place in here," she said, but K-mart was already shaking her head before the statement ended.

"No, not here. On the ship, maybe? What was her name?"

"The First Daughter?" The brunette ran her fingers through her hair, conveying honest consideration. "I don't know. I can't remember."

"Ashley…" K-mart whispered, her hand reaching up to touch the space where her scarab had once been entrenched into her flesh. "It was Ashley."

Whatever reserve Alice lacked to go through with Wesker's plan was solidified in that instant. This was so much bigger than her and her friends. It wasn't just Wesker's last hope. It was humanity's. If the last of the free human race was right here, then who was she to deny them a fighting chance? She couldn't be a coward. What would that teach Becky? That it was ok to run from a fight? That it was ok to let people go through unnecessary suffering? Alice had never believed that to be true. She had to hold herself to higher standards or at the end of things she would be no better than Umbrella.

"If she was on the _Arcadia_, than the Red Queen probably has her. We'll rescue them," she swore to K-mart, a light hand on her shoulder. "We'll save them all. I promise."

* * *

By the time K-mart and Alice made it back to the bunker, everyone was awake and ready for the day. Becky sat next to Alice on her bed, picking up the older woman's hand for a moment before she needed her own hands to sign.

"_Guess what?_"

"_What?_" Alice signed back, giving Becky her full attention.

"_Claire wants to learn sign, too. She asked me when I woke up_."

Alice smiled. "_That's good. You should teach her._" The brunette mussed the child's hair. "_Did you have breakfast?_"

"_Yes, it was very awful, but Claire said I had to eat all of it or I won't be strong like you._"

Alice shook her head at the revelation. Of course, Claire would say that. She was much better with kids than Alice was.

"_She's right, you know. If you want to be strong then you must take care of yourself._"

Becky nodded with understanding before ending the conversation by re-taking Alice's hand in her own. Their private exchange over – Jill, Claire, Chris, and K-mart huddled around Alice. It was time to talk strategy and decide who would come with her to New York.

* * *

**Alice and Claire stuff is coming. Next chapter, I PROMISE. It has just taken a bit longer than I thought it would. But mark my words: next chapter is the good stuff. Feel free to encourage me to get it to you a little faster. ;)**


	5. The Armory

Chapter 5: The Armory

"You're avoiding me."

Alice jumped at Claire's sudden observation. Of course Alice's back had been turned to the door of the armory and she'd entered under the assumption that she would be outfitting herself with weapons alone. The younger woman was still bandaged up, the bruising on her jaw turning green and yellow.

"And you're stalking me," Alice snapped back, the slightest amount of venom in her words. Because if there was anything she hated more than being startled she didn't know what it was. "And I'm not avoiding you," she finished quietly, feeling bad for attacking Claire like that.

The brunette continued picking through weapons in a footlocker labeled: _SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOL _in a white and hastily done paint job. The disorganized way the pistols had been thrown in the metal container screamed lack of care and reason. The weapons had probably been picked off of fallen bodies and raided from stores and other armories.

There was clearly far more guns than people to use them in the case of the surplus in the room. Boxes of guns were placed next to shelves lined with them, set against walls covered in firearms as well. But no wall or shelf had what Alice wanted. She was hoping for a couple of Para Ordinance Nite-Tacs like she'd carried in Nevada. She already retrieved a few loaded magazines for them.

Alice found one that was black instead of silver and set it aside, as Claire no doubt stood behind her, arms folded. It wasn't very long before she found another one. Alice looked over the guns, one at a time, while trying to come up with something to say to Claire.

The second Nite-Tac was more scuffed than the first, but a quick check to see if it was unloaded, followed by a dry fire assured her that it seemed to be functioning properly. She went through the same process with the other gun then stood, placed them in the holsters she'd buckled around her legs, and finally faced the silent redhead.

Alice shook her head and sighed. "What do you want me to say, Claire?" The brunette could feel her pleading almost pouring from her soul. Her blue eyes were tempered in regret and forged in pure agony. How was she supposed to do this? How was she supposed to face the person she continued to single-handedly let down on a non-stop basis?

"You blame me, don't you?" Alice asked, rhetorically. "Saving you from a few birds doesn't really outweigh capture and persecution by a corporation that would rather clone you than help you." Deep russet hair cascaded around Alice's face as it became too much of a burden to hold her head up. "I only meant well."

"You always do," the younger woman said her words as soft as possible. "But please, shut-up."

Claire's viridian eyes converged on Alice's lips and in a second she was crossing the room and on them, kissing the brunette with passion. Alice didn't melt into the touch, though one of Claire's hands entangled into short hair as the other cupped her face. This was so unfamiliar and putting her mind into an erratic state of confusion. Claire's warm body against her own was begging to be held – Alice could taste it on the lips brutally pressed to her own. Then she tasted blood. Uninfected blood. It was Claire's blood.

Alice pulled back from the kiss and her eyes went to Claire's own mouth. There was a small cut on her lower lip newly rounded off with a drop of crimson liquid. When she met Claire's eyes again, the older woman's stomach jumped into her throat. They shared ragged breaths in a prolonged second of certainty. Alice wanted that to happen again, and she wanted it now.

It was the perfect mix of roughness and violence – heat and desire when Alice moved on Claire. This time when they came together, Alice was every bit the aggressor Claire seemed to want. She forced the younger woman against a gun rack full of shotguns and kept her there with nothing but firm muscle between them.

The brunette dipped her head and caught Claire's lips again, the lower swelling with an injury from the battle at sea. Deft fingers played along the older woman's collarbone and hip. Even with thick fabric halting Claire's ability to touch skin Alice felt it profoundly. How could Claire know all the spots to drive her crazy? They had certainly never been lovers before. Ten minutes alone, at this hot – _heavy_ – pace, and that would change.

But they were not alone. Chaos outside interrupted the madness inside as another explosion caused supplies to rock off shelves, and the shouting of soldiers brought Alice out of her frenzy. The light bulb above them swayed back and forth on its exposed wire, flickering as it lost and received power. Guns all around them glinted with reflected light before crashing into darkness, again and again.

A quick glance was all Alice spared Claire before she gently pushed the lithe woman to the side and walked out of the armory.

The way the walls trembled was constant, but this explosion had been far closer than any before. Alice joined a troop of soldiers running single file in the direction of the sound. At their destination, Alice saw Leon standing next to a small, soot-colored impression in the ground and yelling at few commandos peppered with dust and debris. One of the men would not be rising again. Blood seeped out of the guts that gravity was slowly pulling from his corpse. Sights like that didn't even get Alice anymore.

Apparently it was some kind of friendly-fire incident; they were too deep within the White House for anything else.

"What's going on?" Alice asked the man who had been part of the team sent to rescue her.

Leon snarled, "Fucking idiot. Too green for the grenades he was given by his command." The blonde wiped grains of cement off his jacket, the fragments smearing in drops of blood on his rough fingers. "Most of the people we have just aren't cut to play commando."

Alice murmured in agreement. "Just keep everyone alive long enough for me to go get your little something that will turn the tide in our favor," she finished and then delivered him a solid pat on the back.

Leon pitched forward slightly. "Jesus, Alice. You're stronger than you look."

"Deadlier, too," Alice quipped. "Which reminds me… The time will come when you have to pick a side. Wesker's or mine."

"I'm not with Wesker-"

Alice held up her hand, cutting him off. "But he doesn't need to know that, and I could use someone he… trusts." She used the word trust lightly. The guy wouldn't trust a loaded gun to be dangerous.

"I didn't say I was with you, either," Leon stated, a faint smirk hiding behind his five o'clock shadow.

The brunette's eyes narrowed as she looked him over, trying to discern loyalty from his expression. It was no good. The man was more solid than an iceberg and frostier still. But Alice had seen the way he looked at Ada on the helicopter and remembered his concern for her in the testing facility, Umbrella Prime.

"Either way, for your sake – and Ada's – I hope you don't choose wrong."

For the second time that day, Alice left someone hanging in a state of uncertainty. She walked away from Leon without another word, unceremoniously stepping over the body on the floor. The woman didn't even know what Leon and Ada's relationship was, but there was an undercurrent there, one Alice planned to take full advantage of. She would do whatever it took to ensure survival for those close to her. Manipulation, black-mailing, threats – all were cards in her deck and there was no doubt that Wesker's hand was strikingly similar.

* * *

Now that Alice was armed and ready to go on her mission, she needed to talk to Becky about it, but all she could think about was the stint with Claire in the armory. What the fuck had that been? Did Claire mean to do it? Did Alice?

Did this change things between them? Maybe Claire should stay behind after all… Then again she'd been so adamant to go just a couple of hours ago.

"_You think the two of you will be enough?" Claire asked, utter doubt flashing on her face._

_Alice piped up, much like she'd done in Nevada many times before. She didn't know why her opinion always seemed to oppose Claire's, but it was a staple in their rocky friendship since meeting. _

"_It's not just going to be me and Jill. I told you, Wesker's sending some of his best soldiers to go with us."_

"_That's not what I mean, Alice – and you know it." If there was any tranquility in the discussion, it was lost to Claire's retort. "You need more people you can trust to watch your back."_

_Alice looked to the other faces of the room hoping one of them would back her up. Jill, Chris, even K-mart was silent. Cowards._

"_What I _need_ are people I can trust to stay here and protect what I care about."_

_Claire saw right through Alice's ambiguous response. "Chris and K-mart will keep Becky safe. You know they won't let Wesker near her. Besides, if you're not careful the whole fucking world will know your one weakness. If Wesker finds out how important she is to you, he'll use her against you. Like he used Luther, like he's using us." Claire's voice lowered. "I'm coming with you."_

_Alice put her face in her open palm. Why was Claire so difficult? Why was she so stubborn? More importantly, why was she always right?_

"_Fine," the brunette conceded. "We leave tomorrow morning, early."_

* * *

**And that folks, is what happens when you write Alice/Claire scenes to "Hexes" by Tomandandy…**


	6. The Chopper

**Sorry about the severe lateness of this chapter, friends. I was very, very busy, but here it is!  
**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Chopper

Becky was not pleased with Alice's leaving, but she promised to be mindful of Chris and K-mart until the woman returned. Alice's jaw had been set in place since going to the makeshift helicopter pad on top of the White House. They waited until the quiet hour of dawn to liftoff. Their flight group consisted of an osprey and two helicopters, three pilots and fifteen soldiers – five for each craft, plus Alice, Jill, and Claire who decided to fly in the same vehicle.

The flying creatures circling their base had been described by Leon as the last step in the cycle of the Las Plagas parasite. The undeveloped parasite entered a host, either human or undead, where it would lie in wait, feeding off flesh until enough time had passed that it matured. Leather-like wings, tipped with sharp claws would erupt from pale of bloody flesh before the beast would take to the air – only to attack new hosts and plant more parasites.

Alice had to wonder if that would've happened to the evil Rain clone who had hunted her – had she escaped the icy depths. Now wasn't quite the time for idle theory. They had to get airborne and pray that not too many winged parasites would follow them.

It took nearly a minute for the two choppers to reach the rotary speed they needed to take off, the osprey – half of that. At the first foot off of the roof, Alice grabbed the fabric mesh above her head. She was belted into place, just like Claire and Jill were across from her, but she needed that added sense of security. Riding in helicopters was no longer a joy since taking scrap metal to the chest in Raccoon City. It didn't matter; everyone else was just as tense, including the five other soldiers onboard.

A voice came over the ear-piece Alice had been equipped with. _"Bird JAC, in the air."_

JAC had been the acronym assigned to them. It stood for Jill, Alice, and Claire. Some things never change, Alice had realized. The military was still just as obsessed with using codes as it ever was.

Two other confirmations came over the frequency; their team was proceeding with the mission.

Across the cabin, Alice found Claire to be staring at her. Light streamed across the redhead's face as the helicopter's spotlight reflected into the aircraft. What she was feeling, Alice couldn't say, but for the longest of moments, the older woman focused on the angled look of her lips.

She missed the taste of them.

A rocking chopper broke Alice's concentration as the vehicle swerved out of the way of a flock of parasites. The brunette pitched forward, her restraints digging into her shoulders; the metal buckle pushing into her stomach. Her hand tightened around the nylon strap as the turbulence concluded.

"I fucking hate flying," Jill shouted over the sound of the engine and the air moving past them at alarming speeds.

Several more times in the next few minutes, the airship would bounce about. Once, Alice even thought that something had hit them, but she couldn't be sure.

As a collective, the cabin took a breath when they heard, "_All hostiles successful evaded or destroyed. ETA two hours due to headwinds," _from a pilot.

Two hours and they would be in New York City. From there they had to find a safe place to land and make it into the Umbrella facility. The strange thing was that Alice could remember being there. She remembered the streets, the taxis, the gigantic advertisements overhead… but it had all been a reconstruction. The real city would probably look Los Angeles had when Alice and Claire had flown over it – all smoke and debris.

Humanity had fallen so far, Alice more so. What was real anymore? If reconstructing a city from the ground up was possible, and making clones with imprinted memories was possible – who was to say anything about this new day was real? It could be a dream for all she knew.

Or hell.

Maybe she _did_ die when she took that shrapnel protecting Angie…

_"This is Bird JAC, we seem to be having some kind of malfunction."_

Alice's face jerked towards the cockpit.

_"We're losing altitude! Repeat! We're losing altitude!"_

There was a flurry of action in front of Alice as Claire undid her restraints. Alice fumbled with her own; she was not about to let Claire get herself killed in some insane attempt to take back control of the helicopter.

Ten seconds stretched into an eternity as Alice was forced to take the time to realize that the release mechanism on her belt was malfunctioning. In pure frustration, she locked onto the pieces of metal with her eyes and pulled it apart with the force of her mental abilities. Free at last, she bolted after Claire. Inside the cockpit was controlled chaos. The pilots were flipping switches as the console all around them lit up like an epileptic seizure-inducing Christmas tree. The two men were arguing with Claire about the best course of action.

Alice didn't catch most of it; the terms were more technical than she cared to commit to memory, but there was something more to this situation than some mechanical failure. Perhaps… Wesker was not her only barely-disguised enemy. Perhaps this was plain and simple sabotage. None of the other aircrafts had conveyed issues; only the one she was currently on. But who would do it? Who would have reason for their mission to fail?

Suddenly, the brunette was taken aback by the sound of glass cracking. She looked up. Above the pilot's head was a cluster of thin, jagged lines splitting the windshield.

"Claire!" Alice exclaimed. "Up there!" Then she saw it: the tip of the claw, the membrane of the wing. Not sabotage; merely an extra ride-along fixed on infecting all of them with the Las Plagas parasite.

The beast crawled down the glass; hanging on by god knows what. It was huge, easily having a wingspan of over ten feet. Suddenly a clawed wing was pulled back and smashed into the glass. Alice grabbed Claire and spun her around to protect her. The clawed arm struck right into the pilot's chest as shards of glass flew through the air. Alice felt several of them hit her back but she wasn't sure if any of them actually managed to pierce her battlesuit.

In a millisecond, the chopper tipped downward – the pilot's body having collapsed onto the control stick sending it into a nose dive.

In the fall, Alice un-holstered a vector and aimed it at the creature that was half inside the cockpit and half out, but if she fired now she was sure to damage whatever controls were still working and guarantee them a crash landing. For the second time that morning, she flexed her powers and pushed the creature back into the open air and hopefully disoriented it enough that it would leave them alone long enough to correct the situation.

Claire was pulling the body of the pilot back, when several soldiers turned up at the cockpit and took the corpse from her so it wouldn't be in the way. The redhead sat in the newly unoccupied seat and grabbed the stick, pulling up as slowly as she could to right them. Alice held onto the back of her seat to steady herself the best she could.

The redhead put a hand on her ear piece to transmit what she was about to say to the copilot, but Alice had already studied the covered face and there was too much blood covering the sliver of glass in his neck.

"Listen! We need to get this thing under control!" she said.

"It's no use, Claire!" Alice yelled over the sound of the morning air rushing into the cockpit. "He's gone!"

"Then get him out of the way!" the redhead shouted back. Alice nodded and then one-handedly moved the body out of the chair.

Alarms were beeping, lights flashing, smoke billowing, and sparks flying – but Claire was a woman determined to succeed. Their tail end began to spin them around but the woman was steady at the controls. Every move she made brought them into a more composed flight. They were still losing altitude – no doubt because of the damage the parasite had done. They would not be able to continue with the mission like this. One of the other birds would have to pick them up.

Across the glowing horizon, Alice caught site of the afore mentioned vehicles. They were under attack by the same creature that had attacked them. Before even a curse could be made, the other helicopter opened fire on the bat-like mutation. Friendly-fire saw the osprey burst into sky borne flames. It wasn't too much later, when the mutation took down the chopper as well – flying right into the main propeller.

Their mission was a complete bust and their lives in jeopardy until they landed. Claire found an open field and touched down semi-roughly, but all considered she had saved them from a fiery death. The jolt of hitting the ground caused Alice to bite her own tongue but her brain was from too raddled to function. She helped Claire out of the cockpit and back into the cabin where everyone else had braced for impact.

"We have to get out, now!" Claire shouted, her ears still not adjusted to the lack of deafening noise. "We're leaking fuel and a fire could blow this thing!"

Alice hurried everyone outside, doing a quick look over of Jill. The woman was extremely pale but otherwise unhurt. In the grass-covered field, the brunette could finally smell the fumes of gas and smoke. Everyone ran for cover, making it a safe distance before the chopper ignited. The resulting combustion flattened the grass as well as a few of the slower soldiers as the shockwave swept the valley.

#

"I fucking _hate_ flying!" Jill cursed to no one. "God damn it! Alice – that was the last fucking time I get in the air with you! I swear to god! You're fucking _cursed_!"

Despite the danger they had just been, Alice laughed whole-heartedly. Tears rolled down her face, leaving a couple of lines down her face that were free of dirt and fine ash.

Suddenly, Claire was turning Jill's rant into quality conversation. "I know, right?" Nobody seemed to understand that they didn't have to yell over anything anymore, but they kept at it. "I need to tell you about the time we flew to L.A.! She's a damn _disaster_ behind the controls!"

The brunette doubled-over, her sides tense as her own blood dripped out of her open mouth. Her humor could not be doused by the DNA spilling out her mouth. Her tongue could've been cut in half for all she cared.

"Fuck you!" Alice joked back. "Fuck both of you! You don't know me!" The woman's ears began to ring; if Jill or Claire responded, she wasn't able to hear it. The lack of noise from the world around her was enough to bring Alice back to their solemn reality. She rose up to her full height and spit out the blood welling in her mouth.

Claire was beside her in an instant, a gentle hand of support on her back. Alice met her green eyes, all question and uncertainty.

"What should we do now?" the redhead asked.

Alice rubbed more blood off of her bottom lip. The liquid turned her thumb brown as it mixed with the soot and oil on her finger.

"We continue on foot."

The woman glanced over her shoulder. Wesker's helmeted soldiers were checking on each other and idly waiting for orders. Jill was brushing herself off – the purple, skintight suit sprinkled with bits of dry grass.

In front of her were a couple of smoke stacks reaching high. Notably, it was the other vehicle's remains alight with death and destruction.

Beside her – Claire, the rock in the storm, a visionary leader of the blind, and the true proof that Alice was not cursed or the redhead would not be next to her now.


	7. The Road

Chapter 7: The Road

"So, where are we anyway?" Jill asked when she caught up to Alice and Claire.

One of the soldiers behind them piped in with the answer, removing his helmet to reveal the owner of the smooth, deep voice. "We're just west of Philadelphia."

Alice shook her head, radiating disbelief like a hot fever. "What are you doing here, Wesker?"

"I've put all of my resources towards capitalizing on _you_," the blonde man started. "What makes you think I would just let you wander about without keeping an eye on... my investment?"

The woman turned away from him, still reeling. "You're a piece of work," she tried to offend. But adding insult to injury, Wesker just stood there – silent. Claire and Jill were just as shocked to see the addition to their team.

Jill cut in on Alice's behalf. "Any more surprise guest appearances we should know about?" The blonde walked in front of the rest of the soldiers. They were all helmeted; the glass visor completely blacked out, but she scrutinized them anyway, her hands folded behind her back as she paced among them. "Leon, perhaps? Or Ada?"

At the name call, two more soldiers stepped out of the lineup and removed their helmets. Alice had thought one of the troopers was a bit too small for their gear and now she knew why. Ada and Leon had both tagged along, probably to act as Wesker's personal guard.

Alice sighed, though internally she was relieved. If Wesker and his top agents were here, than Becky, K-mart, and Chris were as safe as they could be. Still, she couldn't help but wish Wesker had been on one of the other birds.

Jill, company comedian and all around pessimistic disbeliever, was quick to react though no one could blame her; her actions for the last few years had all been involuntary. "This is great, just fucking _great_. You bastards better not get in our fucking way. We mean to complete this little trek and we will do so without any of your input."

Wesker laughed, haughty and competent. "Like I said, I'm only here to observe and watch out for what's mine."

Alice was boiling just beneath the surface. It was bad enough that she had to agree to Wesker's plan in the first place. Now, he was here, calling Alice his property and making sure she carried out what he'd assigned her. It was bullshit.

Claire had been suspiciously quiet all this time, but after Wesker's admission she butted in. "Come on. We should get moving."

The younger woman was right. With a curt nod, Alice set out – leading the pack with a long, striding gait northeast. The puncture wound in her tongue healed before she was on the far side of the valley. They walked almost an hour, Wesker's soldiers in a solid square formation around him, Ada and Leon on his front flanks. Meanwhile, Jill and Claire were on opposite sides and a step behind Alice. They came upon a road crumbling with age and packed with rusted out cars.

Another hour passed without event. So far every vehicle they'd come across wasn't fit to roll down the side of a hill, but someone in their party stopped at every one that looked decent. It was taking too long, they were going nowhere with so many breaks.

Then – Jill hotwired a long bed, standard cab truck. The pickup was one of few vehicles that actually been started up successfully, and when Jill entered the cab she noted the tank was halfway full.

"Hot damn!" the blonde hollered. "Alice! Claire! Hop in!"

Wesker pulled his infamous sneer. He was clearly not amused with being left out in the equation.

Jill paused a moment before she continued, "And I guess you lot can sit in the back."

Alice chuckled to herself before sliding in the front after Claire – who had been unlucky enough to get the dreaded middle seat. She was a veritable Claire sandwich between Alice and Jill, her legs jammed next to the older brunette's. Alice couldn't say she minded, and if she just _had_ to stretch out her arms, surely it would be acceptable to put her left arm behind Claire and over the top of her seat disguised as a classic yawn.

The rear of the truck sunk with the weight of five bodies as the soldiers climbed onto it. In no time at all, Jill was making good progress down a backcountry highway. The three women took out their ear pieces so they could talk amongst themselves and not be overheard. If Wesker needed something, he would have to bang on the back windshield like a Neanderthal. Occasionally, the ex-S.T.A.R.S. operative would joke about their 'friends' in the back, remarking on how funny it would be if she 'accidently' hit a pothole and Wesker 'accidently' fell out as a result.

Jill's flamboyant personality – long buried by the mind control device on her chest – was running absolutely rampant. Alice was happy to see it; it was a pleasant reminder of what life could be like if freed by the devastating grip the apocalypse had on the world. It was time for a new renaissance, a bringing of light and hope to a world not just in a dark age – but a dead age, as well.

Alice would bring about such enlightenment even if Wesker was determined to be on her back the entire time. She would do it in spite of him and for people like Jill.

* * *

The troop bypassed Philadelphia before the noon sun. Sometime in the drive, Claire's hand had found its way to the brunette's thigh. It was driving her crazy. The flames in her lower abdomen could not be quenched by the light placement of Claire's delicate fingers.

Holding her breath, Alice lifted her left arm from its snug position beside Claire's shoulder. She placed it around the young woman's back with a fluidity and grace that she only possessed at the height of her martial skill. But if she was going to go in for the kill with Claire, she needed to look her in the eye and get the subconscious ok for the advance. The redhead would not meet her hungry stare, but Alice saw the small smirk that took over her stern features.

Whatever was happening between the two of them was a welcome change.

Minutes like that could've been accepted as hours, but just as the road was passing beneath their rolling tires – time was moving on. Night fell on outskirts of New York City. What was normally a two hour drive, took all day on the account of blocked roads, detours, and the occasional biohazard. The group stopped outside an abandoned tire factory for the evening.

Alice was saddened to remove her arm from Claire's shoulders, especially after she had finally roped up enough courage to caress the redhead's upper arm for the last half hour. Perhaps… they could get in some more physical affection at lights out. Maybe.

The brunette was first out of the truck, her legs stiff and protesting weight, but she overcame it with simple disregard. She took out a Vector and a flashlight, Claire did the same with her own semiautomatic pistol as the pair walked to the truck entrance. The loading dock's door was closed so Alice put her flashlight between her teeth and grabbed the edge of the metal frame to pull it back. It took some effort, even with Alice's super strength, but years of rain deposited rust could not stop her.

The group broke off into small numbered teams to sweep the factory. There were several floors of workshops. Jill and Wesker's two troops took the bottom level; Wesker, Leon, and Ada took the second; and Alice and Claire took the top. No shots were fired for several minutes and radio contact was kept silent on account that the company was not really a unit but more like two rival factions. Neither one of them wanted to be the first to bend.

In their exploration, Alice and Claire came upon aisles of tires stacked as high as the ceiling. Surely such a practice had been dangerous and far below regulation. It made searching their level like walking through a maze. Each turn, each pile of rubber could've housed a danger, but every turn and every pile revealed nothing.

"Stay close to me," Alice whispered.

"I try to."

Claire's response was like someone had stuck the brunette with a red hot poker. This sensual back and forth could have disastrous results for her focus. Alice attempted to keep her footing, but there were tires all over the floor. Her boot caught on the extremely complex tred of a snow tire. She stumbled right before Claire dropped her flashlight and reached out to catch her.

Claire chuckled as she helped Alice stand, "Maybe _you_ should stay close to _me_."

Alice righted herself, her face dangerously close to Claire's. Her heart was beating a little faster than normal, driven by the adrenaline of almost tripping and the fact that the object of her affection was so close. She met Claire's eyes, then dipped her head; thinking she could get away with a quick kiss when-

"I try to," she answered, all mirth and sweet seduction, instead.

The brunette bent down and retrieved Claire's flashlight for her, all the while Claire seemed to be awestruck by Alice's teasing.

The pair searched the rest of the floor. It was empty of adversary as well as use. There was no food, no blankets; nothing but old tires.

With a sigh, Alice broke radio silence to get into contact with everyone. She placed a hand on her ear and pressed the broadcast button.

"Top level is clear," she stated.

Leon was next to speak. _"No hostile action to report."_

"_Same here,"_ Jill finally chimed in.

"Did anyone find anything useful?" Alice asked. "Food, perhaps?" She wished someone had thought to grab some of their gear off the helicopter before it exploded. She had gone much longer than a day without food before, but for some reason, the thought of Claire going without anything was hard to bear.

Leon was the only one to answer. _"There's not much here, just old factory equipment, but I do have some energy bars on me."_

"That'll have to do until we get to New York," Alice responded. "Everyone meet up on the ground floor."

* * *

Leon had an energy bar for each person, but that was it. Alice didn't know if Wesker would take the one offered to him. She wasn't even sure if he needed it, but he waved his agent away with a brazen expression like how dare Leon think that he would be so vulnerable as to need subsistence to function.

Heaven forbid the world see him as human. That was all Alice had ever wanted. The two of them could not be more different and yet… the scariest moments were when Alice noticed how they were alike. They were powerhouses and power players. But the greatest difference that mattered the most was that Alice accepted the bar for selfless reasons. She was going to keep it for Claire.

The earth tilted away from the sun in the matter of an hour as darkness settled into the factory. Sometime during that transition, a few ragged blankets had been found under the seat of the truck. They were cut so that everyone would have a section. Again Wesker denied another basic human need and made obvious his refusal to sleep.

Alice, Claire, and Jill settled down in the same vicinity, while Leon, Ada, and the other soldiers did the same. Wesker had gone up the staircase to an unknown destination. No one knew if he would spend the night up there, but Alice was hoping so.

Conversations were minimal for no real reason, and eventually, everyone lay down to sleep except Ada, who was first to keep watch.


End file.
